Since the National Organization for Marriage can’t get judges removed from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (or at least not quickly), it’s calling on Justice Stephen Reinhardt to recuse himself from the Perry v. Schwarzenegger appeal because his wife Ramona Ripston is supposedly too close to the case: she advised the plaintiffs before they filed suit. So NOM, together with the defendants at Protect Marriage, want him gone before Monday’s oral arguments begin. Update: Reinhardt will not recuse himself.

By that measure, Clarence Thomas should recuse himself from all gay-related issues due to his loony wife’s conservative activities.

Dec 2, 2010 at 12:40 pm · @Reply ·

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The real reason is that Stephen Reinhardt is supposedly the most liberal member of the court. If you boot him, a random selection will almost certainly produce someone more to NOM’s liking. They are just coming up with bogus arguments in the hope of stacking the deck in their favor.